


Brighter

by Angelwingsl3 (Marie_Fanwriter)



Series: Macen & Avitus [4]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Companionable Snark, Fluff, M/M, M/M Rares 2018, Porn, Powerbottom, Pre-Andromeda, Spectre Requisitions 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 22:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13534140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marie_Fanwriter/pseuds/Angelwingsl3
Summary: Avitus' attention strays from its target.





	Brighter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BethAdastra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethAdastra/gifts).



Request 2 by BethAdastra

Macen Barro/Avitus Rix

A happy moment shared between Macen & Avi! I'd like something shared between them before they decide to go to Andromeda, where we can see Avi's more private side, and whoever takes this request can play around with Macen's character. Can be fluffy, but I'd really love snark & smut. Major bonus points if Avi is a power bottom. No rating restrictions; please no noncon, character bashing, or A/B/O. Please keep angst to a minimum for this pairing.

\- - -

Avitus sat in the front lobby of the research facility, knee bouncing quietly for lack of anything else to do. Without Spectre status, he didn’t have well... anything. No reports to write, no missions to take, which was strangely liberating. But it also meant that he didn’t have the ability to go wherever he pleased anymore. Not without a security clearance.

He sighed, his thoughts on the matter conflicted.

For years there had always been a problem to solve or a route to follow. This… _nothingness_ , he decided was the right word, was all too strange and different from everything he’d known before. Standard Hierarchy-Colonial schooling was followed by his mandatory service, and then he’d been a Council agent. There was always someone higher than himself to give him orders. Of course there was leeway, boundless leeway as a Spectre, but Avitus couldn’t help feeling like he was caught in a void.

“Spectre Rix?”

Pulled from his reverie, the amber-eyed turian looked up to see the asari secretary standing behind the reception desk, smiling at him from across the small room, beckoning him over with a small wave. He stood, walking swiftly the seven or so paces needed to stand across from the pale blue alien.

“Retired, ma’am,” he drawled in his usual easytone, leaning casually on the tall countertop. “Just Rix is fine.”

“Of course sir, preclearance came through for your entry. Level…hmm... three? From... oh wow. From the Turian Pathfinder.” He could see the purple flush of confusion meeting embarrassment on the asari’s cheeks.

Avitus supposed he didn’t blame them. Some nobody walking in and asking for access was probably an odd occurrence with an operation this carefully maintained. He nodded at the secretary, a small smile tilting his mandibles as he took the offered card and clipped it onto the hem of his shirt as he’d seen a few others do.

He felt a little stupid, but he wanted to fit in. Which was why, after doing a small bit of recon, he’d been able to dress the part. Leaving behind his usual casuals for a more formal outfit; black dress slacks with a fitted navy coloured tunic that finished just above his elbows and was edged in yellow trim. Under the tunic he wore an all black undershirt that clung to his form like his armor undersuit used to, that at least felt normal. Though it was a far stretch from his armor.

“Thanks, so where do I go to-”

“Avi!”

Like sunshine on a cloudy day, the reinforced doors to the research facility parted to reveal Macen walking toward him, a swing in his step. His smile grew to match the other turian’s as he leaned back from the front desk.

The quiet ‘meep’ from the secretary made him chuckle, but not unkindly. Looked like he wasn’t Macen’s only fan.

“Macen, good to see you.”

“And you as well my tall, wily friend. Come! I have something I want to show you.”

As simple as that he was ushered inside the high security Initiative labs, his lover talking a thousand miles a second. A fond tilt slid across his mandibles as he listened.

“Just wait till you see what we came up with today, Avi! You remember that compression coil redesign that miniaturized Dr. Feriizen’s work from the seventeen hundreds? We tested it today for the stasis pods, and the efficiency is improved a hundred and six percent over the full size! More than enough to account for-”

Avitus tried to keep up as they wandered past spotless, glass walled labs with white coats and holographic smartboards, past stark white walls and all the best minds getting up to science, but _spirits_ was Macen handsome when he talked passionately.

The ex-Spectre couldn’t help but let his eyes stray from microscopes and demo feeds to the line of light brown throat hide that flushed attractively as Macen’s pulse rose from his excitement. His emerald-eyes sparkled, somehow, hands gesturing as the latest… stasis pod whatever… was extolled at length.

When a beep in his aural canal from his omnitool systems warned him about his rising body temperature he made himself look away.

In the middle of Macen’s explanation of his work, amid the sprawling labs, was _really_ not the time…

But spirits did he wish it was.

“-is probably how that will go. Pffft. You know how review boards are. Anyway, want to catch lunch after this? There’s a deli nearby that has that awful colonial sauce you like to put on everything.”

Avitus laughed quietly at the dig. Appreciating how disgustingly normal it was for Macen’s homeworld sensibilities to be offended by his colonial saucing habits. If their disagreement over the right amount of _sal_ to use for dipping was the worst thing to happen today? He’d call it a win.

So much better than the spirit crushing slaver base raiding he’d been doing… last week.

The pale turian cleared his throat, dismissing the heart-heavy thoughts of what was and focusing on what could be.

“I haven’t eaten today, so that sounds amazing.”

“Avi! What have I told you about good nutrition? You can’t just-”

And there he went again, rocketing off on a tangent about the connections between a healthy diet and higher thinking. Avitus flicked a smile at the smaller male’s tirade, floating along in his orbit as they neared an office with ‘M. Barro, Pathfinder’ on the nameplate.

His throat felt a little warm at the thought that they might get some privacy…

But no, Macen walked right on by, segwaying neatly from his nutrition to the plans for a communal hydroponics that doubled as mood-buoying green space on the Nexus, the space station that would be the hub of their new civilization in Andromeda.

Avitus stretched his neck, first right, then left, trying to refocus on his lover’s passionate ramblings. He really was trying to pay attention, he just found it… boring to be honest. He wasn’t a scientist, and no matter how hard his mentor had tried to instill a passion for science in him it just never matured. The ex-Spectre was capable of understanding it all, could build a stasis pod from scratch if he really needed to. But outside of forced self-study he was useless.

Thankfully, his oakwood-plated partner didn’t seem to notice as he continued walking them through the hallways and labs of project headquarters. More of the amber-eyed turian’s attention was on his partner than his surroundings. He still mentally marked the exits and potential hostile elements in each room as they entered, but that was all muscle memory.

Years of Spectre-hood would do that to you.

He did not, however, pay a lot of attention to where he was going, expecting Macen to lead them along without letting his taller partner walk into anything. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as Avitus found out when he stumbled into something… correction someone. A human, a female that was nearly half a metre shorter than him. A little wisp of a thing.

The ex-Spectre had nearly knocked the poor thing over.

“Pardon me, ma’am,” he caught her before she fell and helped her back to her feet. His subvocals were as embarrassed as they were apologetic. Formal tone slipping a bit with his surprise to his more easy colonial drawl.

Macen had kept walking, but turned back when he realised that Avitus wasn’t at his side. His expression went from curious to entertained in seconds. Emerald orbs taking in the scene with obvious amusement.

“No harm done,” the brunette replied, smiling widely at him and taking a step back out of his arms, a light pink blush passing her porcelain-toned face. She looked between him and the Turian Pathfinder, “A friend of yours Barro?”

The warmth in his partner’s voice when he responded made the mild embarrassment worth it. A toothy grin flashed across his face, mandibles flaring wide before he answered. “The best.”

A blue flush came to the older turian’s throat at Macen’s reply. Amber-eyes only on him. The rest of existence falling away but for those emeralds.

“Come on Avi,” the Engineer reached out his hand, beckoning him forwards. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

Avitus nodded, the words pulling him out of the daze enough for him to apologize to the human again and start to follow his partner. Taking the offered hand like a lifeline, expressing his gratitude with a small hum of affection when he was close enough not to be overheard.

It was… liberating to be more open with their relationship. They weren’t actively telling anyone, but weren’t actively hiding it either. Both wore bondmarks, though most turian clothing covered the neck so they weren’t often noticed. They were living together in Avitus’ apartment, spending time together in public locations. Entirely different than the years they’d been together before the Geth attack on the Citadel.

The closest to a normal life they’d ever live.

Macen had been Blackwatch since his service years, Avitus had been a Council agent for fifteen years. At 48 and 53 respectively, they’d seen enough in the first third of their lives to last a lifetime. This new stage, going to Andromeda, would be a new lease on life. Or at least that’s what his oakwood-coloured partner kept tell him.

This in between time would be the most normalcy they’d see for 600-some odd years. So long in stasis before coming out the other side. A whole new world to explore. No enemies hunting him, no council ordering him around. His job was to protect the Turian Pathfinder, protect Macen. And that? He could live with.

“You alright, Avi?” the emerald-eyed turian asked once they’d cleared the labs and made it to the relative privacy of the elevator up to the main lobby.

The pale plated male nodded, pulled back to the land of the living by the concern in his mate’s second voice. “Yeah. Just thinking.”

“Dangerous occupation,” Macen teased.

“Hmm… maybe...” Avitus rumbled back at his partner, pulling up his tool and punching a quick code in to temporarily disable the surveillance equipment in the lift before taking a step towards the shorter male. Trapping him between his chest and the wall, hands on either side of his head, mouth dangerously close to the light brown throat hide he’d been infatuated with earlier. Only now, the flush had darkened for an entirely different reason.

“Maybe?”

Avitus could see the line of his throat shift as he swallowed. He was beautiful. And all his. “I can think of a few things that are more dangerous.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. And later, you’re going to do all of those things to me.” He let his warm breath ghost over Macen’s throat, nuzzling along his pulse point before pulling away when the elevator door opened.

Without a word, Avitus exited the elevator and headed for the door. Macen stumbled along after him, not even bothering to say goodbye to the asari behind the front desk when they stopped what they were doing to bid farewell to the pair of turians.

It was exactly how the ex-Spectre liked his mate. With gorgeous emerald-eyes only for him.

\- - -

Lunch was uneventful.

A calm meal taken on the Presidium patio of the deli Macen had mentioned. The Engineer was correct, they did have the _sal_ he loved and just to mess with him, Avitus asked for extra on his meal. The younger turian had scrunched his nasal plating and vehemently refused to try it when the elder offered him some.

It was cool as always in the wide open expanse of the Presidium, the artificial sunlight beaming down from overhead. The patio overlooked the lake, their table far away from pedestrian traffic. Avitus’ back was against the wall of the deli, overlooking the rest of the patrons. His partner sat across from him, despite his Blackwatch years Macen wasn’t nearly so paranoid. He easily gave the room his back, trusting Avi to take care of him.

Even knowing how harsh the Galaxy could be, he still gave his trust easily.

Food disappeared quickly between the two of them. Extra _sal_ and all. Without anywhere they needed to be, they sat chatting for a while longer. Enjoying the time. The newness of being a couple out in the open. Hell, of just being out in the open in general. Very little of his time in the past five or so years had been public, paranoia making him more reclusive. But now, with Macen’s help, that part of his life was over.

Maybe he’d never be as comfortable as his mate, but he could be better.

The ex-Spectre was struck once again by just how attractive he found his partner as the Engineer got onto a new tangent, this time about the potential difference in what the stars would look like from so far away. What would the Milky Way look like? Would they be able to pick out Trebia? What about the ancient turian constellations?

Avitus lost track of the names as Macen described them using names of tens of system’s stars. That mind of his never seemed content with knowing, he had this charming habit of spreading his knowledge around wherever he went. Never to impress or intimidate, only because he thought that it was worth sharing. Worth knowing.

“And then there’s Reina the Warrior-”

The passion in him was never ending... and _ridiculously_ attractive. Amber eyes followed his hands as they gestured for emphasis while he spoke.

“Oh! What about Titus, think we’ll be able to-”

He wasn’t sure if Macen even noticed that he’d zoned out again. Struck stupid by the contented tilt to oaken mandibles and the depth of his lover’s eyes. It wasn’t until the quiet prattle stopped that he realized there had been a question in there somewhere.

“Pardon?” he blinked a few times, clearing the haze that had settled over his eyes. Any semblance of control of his tone gone. Drawl on full display. “Ya lost me, hun.”

Bright laughter filled the space between them. “Not important.” Macen reached a hand out and placed it on his own on the table, squeezing lightly before withdrawing.

Avitus’ hand followed it, talons interlocking around his partner’s. His subvocals thrumming with both apology and want. “You said it, cours’ it’s important.”

“Avi…” Macen squeezed his hand again. Those deep-green eyes softening as they stared into his own amber gaze. “Let’s go home.”

\- - -

They arrived back at the apartment about a half hour later. It had been a short rapid-transit ride and walk away. All the while Macen kept on about all sorts of things and Avitus just listened. He’d read something in a bad romance novel once, _I could listen to him for hours,_ and never really understood the sentiment until he’d met his talkative partner.

A partner that could talk for hours about nothing and everything.

The only person in his entire life that seemed to understand that he preferred to listen. Despite his inattention earlier, being much too focused on… other aspects of his lover, he took in everything the younger male told him. Adding insight where he could and asking questions as needed. It was a healthy conversation, even if Macen did most of the talking.

When the door closed behind them, the ex-Spectre hit the locking command on his omnitool and ran his usual scans of their home. The oakwood-plated male kicked off his boots before walking into the kitchen to start the kettle, letting the older turian perform his ritual, even if he thought it was unnecessary.

Avitus finished with his scan, it came back clean as always, before closing out his tool and following Macen into the small kitchen. He walked up behind his shorter mate and wrapped his strong arms around his waist. The warmth coming off of the Engineer’s back easily felt through their clothing. The pale-plated male inhaled deeply, taking in his lover’s scent; sweetgrass and spice.

“I want to ride you,” Avitus dropped his voice an octave and whispered into his lover’s aural canal. “I want you so deep inside me that I can’t even figure out where you end and I begin.”

The kettle flicked off with a touch of Macen’s talon.

“I’m listening.”

The ex-Spectre began to pepper the graceful line of light brown throat with small nips and licks. Just enough to entice as he mumbled through some additional wants. “I want my hands pressing down on your chest, yours wrapped around my hips. Talons just scraping at hide.”

“Mhmmm….”

“Then, once I’m good and ready, I’m going to sink my fangs into your bondmark. Take you for my own again.” He ground his hips into Macen’s. “Make you call out my name.”

The Engineer’s breathing sped up, hips rocking back into Avitus’ own. Chest thrumming with agreement and want. His head tilted to the side and away, giving him better access. Always so trusting of him. The amber eyed male loved it.

“And then?”

“Well…” his hands went to the claps of Macen’s tunic, undoing them with the ease of someone familiar with the garment. His mouth crawling lower, along the edge of the bondmarking as it was revealed. “Then… I’d get you to roll me onto my back and take my mark in return.”

His hand slid across the already parting seam between his partner’s legs. It was damp with need and Macen’s whine filled the room. It was one of Avitus’ favorite sounds.

“Avi…”

“Then... I’m going to make you come so hard you’re going to forget what your own name is.”

That last sentence was enough to push Macen over the edge enough for him to drop from his sheath, hard and heavy with blood. His length closer to purple in colour under his darker brown hide. He turned in Avitus’ arms and immediately his hands were working at the clasps of the taller turian’s clothing.

Within moments half of their clothing was on the floor. Boots kicked off haphazardly when the Engineer lifted his partner up by the backs of his thighs to sit him on the island counter. Tongue licking at his pale-grey throat, hands rubbing and massaging at dense muscles and hard plate. He was everywhere at once, too worked up from the dirty talk to go slow.

The pair were quite familiar with one another, having been together for years in secret before transitioning into this more public relationship in recent months. The oakwood-plated turian knew just which places to touch and the scars to avoid as he ran his hands across the much paler hide of his partner.

Something that always struck Avitus, was the contrast between them. Macen’s deep-brown plates and hide against his own more monotone light-grey. His emerald eyes just a shade lighter than forest-green markings. His partner was traditionally handsome, and it blended so well with his charismatic and confident nature.

“Mmmhm… ha… Ma… Macen…”

The younger male chuckled against his throat at the breathy version of his name as he fell from his own sheath. “Yes?”

“Bedroom, now.” Avitus demanded, pressing lightly against his partner’s chest. “And you had best be naked by the time I get there.”

Without complaint, the Engineer backed off. A hand to his chest in the mocking version of the turian salute, subvocals rumbling agreement and want, before he sped off for the bedroom. The ex-Spectre followed him close behind, a smirk crossing his face at the haphazard way his partner had thrown his pants over the low-slung couch on his way there.

By the time Avitus entered the bedroom, Macen was sprawled out deliciously on the bed. He was on his back, reclining against the pillows with one hand slowly teasing himself drawing slow strokes from his base to tip. Those bright-green eyes of his looking absolutely predatory as he watched him enter.

“Couldn’t wait?” he teased as he dropped his pants and stalked the last couple of paces to the bed.

“No.”

At the innocent little word Avitus chuckled openly, crawling up the length of his partner’s body. All the while planting licks and nips along the less touched places on his thighs, at his junction of his hips, the base of his cowl. With little effort he pulled the Engineer’s hands off of his length and he pinned them down to the sheets above his head. Macen allowed himself to be held down, giving a token struggle once his hands were trapped.

Lighter brown hide became visible as Macen tilted his head back and to the side, exposing his throat in surrender. “I want you, Avi. Please.”

The need in his baritone voice went straight to his member, making him stiffen further and the length of him twitch with need as his rear plating spread. Usually he needed a lot more coaxing than today, a tongue or at the least the gentle press of insistent fingers. Today he’d been mentally amped up enough to go without. The little roll of Macen’s hips allowing his length to brush against his seam.

“Then have me,” the pale-grey male whispered as he gave his partner a careful stroke with his free hand before lining him up and beginning to seat himself down onto it. Grey crest met with brown, breaths shared between them as Macen sunk all the way inside to the hilt in one long and agonizingly slow stroke.  

The familiar stretch made him gasp, the hand pinning Macen’s squeezing to help distract himself from it. It wasn’t that it hurt, more that he wanted to have the ability to keep charge for a while before letting his partner roll them over to finish them off.

“Alright?” Macen nuzzled into his crest, the edges of his talons scrapping along his wrist as much as he could reach.

Avitus blew out a long breath as he pulled away, giving a tentative clench of his internal muscles to draw a long, throaty moan from the darker turian. “Yeah… now, where were we?”

“Mhmm… something about riding me…” his hips rolled upwards, feet finding a stable place in the sheets to help with the pressure. His back bowed slightly to show off his lean figure, arms stretched far above his head only aiding the aesthetic.

“R-riiiiggghhhttt… ahhh...”

Macen knew just the right ways to drive him insane. It was a good thing he knew what’d do it for the younger male too. The pace he began was slow, dragging along the entire length of him. He loomed over his partner, one hand still pinning Macen’s own and the other findinging a solid place to grip on his shoulder for balance.

They moved as one, meeting in the middle to get as deep as possible. Just the occasional clack of plates and moans filled the otherwise silent apartment. Artificial daylight shone in from the Presidium outside the window of the highrise, drawing long shadows and painting a single ray down the centre of the bed. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

As Avitus’ thrusts started to get less coordinated, he dropped his hold on Macen’s wrists. Both his hands going to his keel for stability as he started to speed his thrusts. The newly freed hands found his hips to help him along, talons scratching lightly against light-grey plates.

“That’s it Avi… oh please just like that….”

The ex-Spectre opened his amber orbs to watch his partner’s face. The bliss spread across his oaken mandibles as they moved together was gorgeous. He loved sending his partner into a moaning mess for him. Keeping the pace the same, he started increasing the strength of his bounce. Throwing in a little roll of his hips at the bottom to ensure he felt every little bit of pleasure possible.

Now that the first two parts of his promises were kept, he planned for the third. Dipping down he nipped along the length of Macen’s mandible. The deep-brown plated male’s breath caught and  then he openly offered himself, throat bared for him. Eyes shut tight in ecstacy.

The rolling vocalization of - _yours_ \- almost made Avitus come right then and there. The wild ride he was getting along with the trust and adoration from his partner making him want to come apart for him. But he held on, just long enough to sink his fangs down into the scarred indentations at the junction of his shoulder and neck. - _Mine_ -.

Macen’s talons dug into his hips and he did indeed cry out Avitus’ name. Loud and needy, echoing off the walls as his hips lost the rhythm and he began to pound upwards into him relentlessly. Chasing the high that the elder male gave him. Avi’s long blue tongue followed his teeth, caressing the newly reopened wound even as the younger turian’s clotting augments worked to close it over. He was down on his elbows now, needing to be close in for the biting and staying there for the angle.

Closing his eyes, Avitus could see little stars behind his eyelids as Macen pounded into him. He moaned into his throat, getting close to the end himself. “Your turn, love.” he prompted and without a second wasted he was on his back with the shorter turian above him.

Their legs wrapped around one anothers’, the elder male’s length was trapped between them as the younger loomed over him. The new position providing a deeper angle for him to penetrate while it gave Avitus’ hands the ability to roam across Macen’s back and waist. He bared his own throat and it was barely a second before teeth were on him and then cutting through hide.

The ex-Spectre felt the heat coiling in his gut as he rapidly fell towards the end. “That’s it. Nhgg… Spirits Mace… that’s it.”

His back bowed and the friction against his mate’s softer waist hide threw him over the edge, those tiny stars blossomed into bursts. Talons scrambling for purchase against the shorter male’s back as he kept right on thrusting. Bringing himself to completion too. One final thrust deep inside him as Macen came hard and long, filling his mate to the brim.

They collapsed in a heap. The both of them a panting mess.

It was exactly what Avitus had needed, and judging by the contented purr that Macen was making, he thought so too. The younger male and siddled off the the side, pulling out with a slick sound and then he nosed into his warm grey hide.

“Gonna tell me what that was about?” Macen asked around a yawn.

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

There was a small grumble of discontent as the Engineer forced himself up on his elbow to glare at him. Though his emerald gaze held no heat. “Why not?”

“I suppose I could tell you…” Avitus replied with a grin, pulling away from his partner to stand up. He pressed his crest to Macen’s before finishing, “But I won’t.”

As he headed for the bathroom to clean up he heard the complaint and laughed. He was too easy to tease, but that was just another one of the things he loved about him. For all the things he’d seen in his fifty something Palavani years, Macen was always the refreshing breath of air that he needed. His partner, whom he’d follow to the ends of the Galaxy.

His mind held onto that thought until he returned. The tall turian leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his keel as he took in his partner. Ever needing to be busy, his face was lit by the orange glow of his omnitool. Nose deep in emails by the looks of it. Everything about him was gorgeous, from his mind and spirit to his body.

When he didn’t return to be right away the shorter male’s head tilted to the side in question, emerald getting caught up in amber. “What?”

“I love you, Macen.”

His mandibles flicked in a smile and he closed out the tool, patting the bed beside him. Avitus pushed himself off the door jam and joined him. Pressing their crests together before settling in beside the younger male. Affection rolled off of Macen’s chest as he replied in kind.

The pair of them would continue enjoying each and every day just like this. Wrapped in one another’s arms. It didn’t matter where they went, as long as they were together.

“I think the stars will look different,” he sleepily told his mate as he pulled him into his chest. “They’ll be brighter.”

Macen sat up enough to look him in the eyes, a smile settling over his mandibles as he pulled their crests together one more time. “Only because you’ll be right there with me.”


End file.
